A 'Test and Vaccinate or Remove' (TVR) badger TB project is to begin today around County Down, the Northern Ireland government has said.
It involves the capture of badgers, sampling, micro-chipping and vaccinating them against bovine TB with the removal of any badgers testing positive for bovine TB.
The NI Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) said the project aims to monitor the effects on badgers in areas of high cattle TB prevalence.
It is to begin on today (19 June) in a 100km² area around Banbridge, County Down.
Last year 586 badgers were captured.
These were made up of 271 unique badgers plus a further 315 re-captured badgers, with some being captured on more than one occasion.
The worldwide issues around the production of BCG vaccine meant that the strain of badger BCG vaccine used during the first three years of the project is unavailable.
The department, however, obtained a supply of human BCG vaccine (BCG Sofia strain) for use in the project which is the same as the vaccine currently used in the Republic of Ireland for its badger vaccination programmes.
DAERA officials are in the process of organising a stakeholder event for farmers in the TVR area to update them on the project as the commencement of fieldwork approaches.
